Kent profile


A successful life after death


for bumbling Barry The ShaunWilliamson interview By Murray Evans


TYPECASTING has led to the demise of many TV actors. But despite being forever attached to the role of the hapless Barry Evans in EastEnders, Shaun Williamson’s many talents have ensured success in several directions. Shaun, who was born in Maidstone


and spent the first 19 years of his life there, has just finished a panto season at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells. “I’ve always loved panto, but it was


something we weren’t allowed to do when I was in EastEnders,” he said. “This is my third Cinderella, my


second time as Buttons, but I never get tired of panto. I just love the variety hall atmosphere and the heavy comic element. It’s a chance to make a live audience laugh, which is particularly great when there are loads of children in.“ It’s also the opportunity, he said, to


“play around” with the script – just a little.


“We update it as we go - throw in some current


references to I’m a Celebrity or X Factor. But it has to be something the audience can identify with; you


can’t be self-indulgent with it, because the audience wouldn’t appreciate it and you might even throw your fellow actors off their stride.” Shaun’s life before his big break in EastEnders


was re-enacted to a large extent when he was featured in the ITV programme Back on the Job in November. As he looked at his former home in Bicknor Road,


on Maidstone's Park Wood estate, he said: “I'm proud to have come from here.” And pointing out the spot where he and his friends used to chalk their cricket stumps on a wall, he added: “I have nothing but good memories of the place.” He has never lost his love of either the town or


the county. In fact, despite a lot of travelling, he never really left Kent, because his other long-term homes were in Orpington and Borough Green. He now lives near Faversham, with his wife and


two children, aged 12 and 9, who both attend local schools, and four dogs. “It’s true, I do love Kent – as long as they stop


building major roads through it,” he said wistfully. His childhood hero was Muhammad Ali, so it was


no surprise that he took up boxing, training regularly at the Westree Gym near his home. “I was obsessed with boxing. I thought I’d love to be a boxer.” But, he admitted, women, smoking “and not


Above: Doing what he likes best – singing Left: Shaun as Buttons in Cinderella at Tunbridge Wells 4 Mid Kent Living


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